Spectator killed by speeding car during Mille Miglia rally.

A tragic accident interrupted the 49th edition of the Mille Miglia rally in Valsabbia, in the Brescia area. Francesco De Pasquale, 63, from Turin, was struck and killed by a competing Skoda Fabia while taking a photograph during a special stage between the municipalities of Casto and Bione. The impact occurred at 2:56 PM and left the spectator no chance, as he died practically on the spot.

The car's crew, driver Alessandro Zorzi and navigator Fabio Berisonzi, sustained non-serious injuries. Following the dramatic episode, the organizers decided to definitively suspend the competition, which was supposed to conclude in the center of Brescia. The Brescia prosecutor's office has opened an investigation to ascertain the dynamics of the accident.

The Mille Miglia rally is a historic and highly popular automotive competition, which in this edition featured six special stages organized over three routes to be tackled twice. The fatal accident involving De Pasquale is the third recorded in just a few hours during the event: yesterday morning, another car ended up in an embankment, with its two occupants rescued by firefighters and transported to the hospital by helicopter, while on Friday evening, a Hyundai 20 Wrc Plus was completely destroyed by fire following a technical failure.

The investigation by the Brescia prosecutor's office, coordinated by prosecutor Francesca Sussarello, will now need to clarify several crucial aspects, including the exact position of the victim at the moment of impact, to determine whether they were in an area permitted to the public. The traffic police are preparing reports to reconstruct the precise sequence of the collision.